Palace of Tears in Berlin, Germany

Project

Background
After World War II, the Friedrichstrasse train station was the last station before the border to West Berlin. It became a border crossing point after the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. An attached pavilion was then built for border clearance based on the plans drafted by Horst Lüderitz, the architect of the German Reichsbahn. It was given the name “Palace of Tears” due to the many goodbyes that had to be said here.

Major renovations were performed in advance of the permanent exhibition entitled “Border Experiences. Everyday Life in a Divided Germany” that opened in September 2011, including the new glass façade.

Challenge
Lüderitz had designed the “customs clearance building” to be a pavilion flooded with light. The steel-framed construction of the glass façade rests on top of a 2.50 meter high pedestal.
The aim of the Berlin authorities for the preservation of historic buildings and the architectural firm Bollinger + Fehlig Architekten in renovating the building was to preserve and restore the character of the building as authentically as possible. This included using large glass surfaces that have the same type of slightly irregular structure that was typical for the production processes used in the 1960s.

Furthermore, the project planners wanted these glass panes to offer special lighting properties that would prevent the room from overheating as a result of sunlight.

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Material

Solution The restoration glass TIKANA® met the demands of the authorities for historic buildings, since it was the only product that closely resembles the historic, slightly irregular glass used in the early 1960s.

In addition, SCHOTT was the only company capable of producing these glass panes in the required thickness of 6 mm and the dimensions needed. For example, the project called for model panes of up to 2,794 mm in height.

To meet the requirements of thermal insulation, SCHOTT TIKANA®was used on the inside and then combined with a float glass pane that features a heat insulation coating.

Closeup view of SCHOTT's restoration glass TIKANA® used for Palace of Tears in Berlin, Germany